Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 86

From the back of the court, the Clash 98 quickly became the frontrunner in the Clash line for our team. All of our playtesters noted that this model provided great stability and control, along with easy access to spin and depth. Chris found the Clash 98 to be his favorite Clash so far. He said, "I immediately felt much more dialed in with this version of the Clash compared to the Clash 100 and 100 Tour I'd previously tried. I was able to control the depth of my shots better. I found a similar launch angle with good clearance over the net, but with the Clash 98 I was able to get the ball to drop nicely inside the baseline, whereas I tended to overhit more with the 100 and 100 Tour versions. I also liked the feel of the Clash 98. It felt like I was getting good dwell time with the ball on the strings, yet my shots seemed to fly out of the stringbed with lots of zip. I had a lot of fun driving through shots with this racquet. My topspin shots were aggressive, and I was also able to really drive my slice backhand offensively."

"From the first hit, it was immediately apparent to me that this was going to feel a lot like the Clash 100 Tour playtest I was on," said Sean. "The 98-square-inch head translated to slightly more control, and I noticed slightly less forgiveness from the stringbed; however, the soft pocketing sensation remained. Even though there was more control, the Clash 98 still had copious amounts of power and spin for a 98, and I would still put it in the 'tweener' category. I was often looking for even more control and feedback from the frame, but I could enjoy the plush feel. The beam is a half millimeter thinner, but I was hoping it would have been more like 21 or 22 millimeters wide for a more responsive feel."

Though Michelle found some added control with this model, she struggled to get completely dialed in with the feel. She explained, "After having playtested the Clash 100 Tour, I was left craving a bit more control from the Clash racquets. I would say this 98-square-inch version helps answer that craving. The Clash 98 had a similar sensation at contact to the Clash 100 Tour: loads of pocketing, which made me really feel the ball in the stringbed and then feel like I could catapult it back out with loads of power and spin. While this 98-square-inch version did have more control for me than the 100 Tour, I had some similar issues, mainly that the racquet felt very 'all or nothing' for me. I felt like I could swing as hard as I wanted, but I wasn't completely connected to the ball or sure where it was going. I just didn't always feel like I knew where the ball would land once I released it. As someone who already flirts with the lines, this was frustrating. I prefer to feel a bit more connected, like when I'm hitting with the RF97. I think someone with faster, more vertical strokes might find better control than someone like me with longer groundstrokes. I also have to mention the string. The string and tension I prefer in my racquet of choice was not my favorite with the Clash 98. If I strung the Clash 98 with a stiffer, deader poly in the high 50s I could rein some of the control in, but I felt like it tightened the stringbed too much and negated the flexible feel and technology that sets the Clash apart from other racquets on the market."

The Clash 98 worked with Julie's aggressive game style better than the Clash 100. She noted, "I was really excited to get on this playtest and compare the Clash 98 to the Wilson Clash 100. The Clash 98 is definitely better suited to my game than the 100 was. It offers more stability and more free power, and it was still quite maneuverable, which made it easy to swing through the ball and hit big on my groundstrokes. I found more control as well, especially on my slower strokes, which was my main difficulty with the Clash 100, and I was able to reach for my favorite short-angle cross courts without issue. The stiffness level is still very low, and I definitely like the feel of stiffer racquets. The Clash 98 didn't feel as comfortable for me, but it still suited my game fairly well on the baseline. I had great access to spin, and I didn't have to work hard to achieve good depth. I was able to find great spin with my full-western forehand grip, while finding powerful shots on my backhand side when hitting flat through the ball. My slices were effective, but they didn't sit as low as I'd like them to, most likely because I'm used to stiffer frames and I simply couldn't seem to get used to the flex level of this racquet."

Volleys - Score: 81

The soft feel from the Clash 98 contributed to great touch at the net, though it hindered some testers when they wanted to get more aggressive. Michelle described, "I was happy with the feel and touch at net, and I felt in command with my volleys for the most part. The Clash 98 was maneuverable enough and blocked balls back well. This is one of those racquets where I felt better with touch volleys than sticking aggressive volleys. Swinging volleys were fun and effective, but there were times when I felt the racquet was too floppy for me when I was trying to stick deep first volleys. For its weight, the Clash 98 felt fairly stable."

Chris added, "I loved the feel and control I had at net with the Clash 98. There was that same unique soft feel coupled with a crisp response. The result was a lot of feel on touch shots and impressive power on punch volleys. I was reminded of similar rewards from heavy, classic player's racquets, yet the Clash 98 makes no sacrifices in the maneuverability department. All in all, I have to say the Clash 98 was a racquet I loved attacking the net with, and the volley became my favorite shot to hit with this racquet."

Sean found decent precision at net with the Clash 98. He offered, "I enjoyed volleying slightly more with this version than the 100 Tour. The eight mains going through the throat made for a denser sweetspot, and I noticed it was easier to spot my volleys without fear of losing control. The maneuverability was similar to the 100 Tour since the head size was reduced but the swingweight was bumped up a few points. The stringbed still felt a little 'springy,' which could make it difficult to hit drop volleys and short angles."

Favoring the feel of stiffer racquets, Julie struggled a bit with the response and feel of the Clash 98 on volleys. She said, "My main issue with the Clash 98 was up at net. I wasn't able to find the stability I needed to place the ball where I wanted, and I didn't have great control. I thought there was a lack of responsiveness from the racquet, and I felt disconnected from the ball. I even caught myself swinging at my volleys to try to make up for the missing responsiveness. I had to make small adjustments to my game, and I mainly decided to stay back because I wasn't comfortable at the net unless it was for an easy volley to end the point."

Serves - Score: 85

It was easy to get this Clash 98 moving through the air on serves, which allowed our playtesters to crank up the pace and tap into generous amounts of spin. Julie found she could mix up her serves with ease. She said, "My racquet speed is pretty high on my serves, and the Clash 98 allowed me to find plenty of power on my first serves and plenty of spin on my kick serves. Whether I aimed wide, into the body or to the T, I was able to reach my target without issue. The launch angle of the Clash 98 is quite high, which is a feature I really appreciated on my second serve, as I like to push my opponent back with a kick serve."

After an adjustment period, Michelle felt she could produce some heavy serves when aiming at bigger targets. She described, "Similar to my experience with the Clash 100 Tour, it took me some time to get dialed in with the Clash 98. I just felt like I was coming through too fast at times. Once dialed in, I could swing pretty big. I wouldn't say I felt like I was super accurate, but I had success with bigger targets. I was happy with the amount of kick and spin I could generate as well."

The Clash 98 checked all the boxes for Chris on serves. He commented, "Getting pace and spin on my serves was easy with this racquet. I liked the way the Clash 98 came through contact. The racquet felt fast through the arc of my swing and enabled me to inject pace and spin into my serves easily. I liked the response of the upper portion of the stringbed in the Clash 98 compared to the 100 and 100 Tour. The response felt more solid, and I was getting more into my serves. I felt confident on both first and second serves. When coupled with the success I had at net, it made this a fun racquet to use both on the singles and doubles court."

Sean added, "Although I was getting less free power and spin on my serve compared to the 100 Tour, I liked the trade-off for improved control and accuracy. It was still kind of hit or miss on my big flat serves, but when I added a little shape to the serve it was easy to find the box."

Returns - Score: 84

Our team had mixed feelings about the Clash 98's performance on returns. Some playtesters found they could return consistently while others lacked a bit of feel and stability. Chris thought the racquet's blend of maneuverability, control and stability was great for returns. He explained, "The response of the Clash 98 felt well suited to my return game. Again, the racquet felt pretty solid and decently easy to maneuver. I had better control than I expected and found the power of the racquet surprisingly controllable. Both my slice and topspin returns felt good. The Clash 98 grew on me the more I returned with it, and I felt more and more dialed in as I got deeper into the playtest."

Unlike Chris, Michelle had a tough time finding a good rhythm on her returns. She elaborated, "This is where I really could appreciate the deep pocketing feel from this racquet. I could really wind up and swing big. On the other hand, I definitely had moments where I felt good at contact and my return landed near the back fence. Again, I had some issues with consistently here. There were moments of brilliance and moments of massive mistakes. I can't afford to be so erratic on returns and was craving more control. If I had different stroke mechanics I don't think I'd experience these big misses, but with my longer, fast-swinging returns, I just lost some control and targeting when I tried to be aggressive. I wasn't always sure what was going to happen to the ball after it left my string bed."

Julie also wanted more consistency when returning. She said, "The Clash 98 lacked a bit of stability on returns, and I wasn't very precise when returning big first serves. I usually like to stay close to the baseline, but I decided to back up a couple of steps and hit full swings back in the center of the court, as I felt a bit late on my returns. This put me in a position where I was able to find my contact point, giving me the extra time I needed and keeping me more connected to the ball. When it came to returning second serves, I was able to step up and find the control to place the ball where I wanted, or I could just stay aggressive and hit flat through the ball."

Sean would've appreciated more control and precision on his returns. He concluded, "I think the extra forgiveness of the 100 Tour made it easier to return with than this 98 version, albeit very slightly. The added control still wasn't enough for me to feel totally confident swinging for the lines, and I noticed that the stringbed felt more dead around the perimeter, which sometimes made it difficult to predict where the ball was going."

Overall - Score: 87